News
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- May 9, 2012 - 9:40 am
- This summer, coinciding with our 200th story and 100th issue, BCS will have new cover art: "Knight's Journey" by Raphael Lacoste.
Raphael is an award-winning designer who has worked in the movie and video game industries, including as a Senior Designer on Assassin's Creed 2. His piece "Chinese Steampunk Village" was the BCS cover art in winter 2010. We are delighted to have him returning to our cover for our 200th story and 100th issue!
- May 3, 2012 - 9:09 am
The Best of BCS, Year Two anthology now available
Issue #94 -- May 3, 2012
Issue also available on Kindle and as Epub, Mobi, or PDF
"To Go Home to Leal," by Susan Forest
The pronouncements of the captain were drowned by the goading of the crowd, but his actions were clear. It took three men to hold Kaul's father's left arm on the block. One soldier brought out a broad-bladed axe and his father's struggles renewed. The axe-man bent over him, giving instructions, but his eyes rolled and he screamed. The axe-man seemed to shrug; then, raising his weapon, he brought it down, once, with a sickening crunch.
"A Marble for the Drowning River," by Ann Chatham
I held out my hand with the marble in it, and the drowned girl reached out her long fingers and lifted it gently out of my palm, not even touching me with one of her fingernails. She rolled it in her hand for a moment, looking into the misty shadows in the glass, and then swallowed it, grinning almost like she was still human.
Audio Fiction Podcast 081
"Pridecraft," by Christian K. Martinez, from BCS #93
I was sagging, listing in pain, by the time I could see Rattle and the crew. They were waiting on the Eight-B platform, near the engine console. The Eight-B line had a rust-and-people smell that mingled into a peculiar musk. I imagined the stench of Hail's blood and body beneath the usual platform scents. From Rattle's face, I knew she didn't have to.
From the Archives:
"My Father’s Wounds," by Ferrett Steinmetz, from BCS #75 and Audio Fiction Podcast 065I tear the robe open. Father's belly's a ruin--but he has been, as he is in all things, strangely exacting. I press in with my fingers, feeling the wound's edges; mercifully, they don't go up underneath the ribs. No, he's slashed his intestines with expert precision--a deadly but slow wound. Plenty of time before swollen guts and poisoned blood will take his life.
- Apr 20, 2012 - 3:20 pm
- A sad farewell to novelist, short story writer, and BCS author K.D. Wentworth.
Her story "The Orangery" in BCS #12 was an Honorable Mention in Gardner Dozois's Year's Best SF 27 and a Million Writers Award Notable Story of 2009.
Up-and-coming writers may know her name from the Writers of the Future contest. She was the first reader, reading all the submissions and choosing the Semifinalists and Finalists, and providing critiques for the Semifinalists.
We have made BCS #12 now available in ebook files for anyone who would like to read or reread the story in those formats. - Apr 19, 2012 - 8:55 am
The Best of BCS, Year Two anthology now available
Issue #93 -- April 19, 2012
Issue also available on Kindle and as Epub, Mobi, or PDF
"The Ivy-Smothered Palisade," by Mike Allen
A flare of illumination washed the chamber in flickering shadow and gleam. I'd gone through another door, into a different room, longer and wider than the one I knew. Runes were scratched on every visible inch of walls, ceiling and floor. Repeated phrases: Death feeds life. Life breeds death. Death breathes. Tall and heavy armoires slithering with gold filigree lined both sides of this horrid space, most with their doors open, spilling out once-beautiful gowns now molded and rotting, reminding me of molted skins.
"Pridecraft," by Christian K. Martinez
I was sagging, listing in pain, by the time I could see Rattle and the crew. They were waiting on the Eight-B platform, near the engine console. The Eight-B line had a rust-and-people smell that mingled into a peculiar musk. I imagined the stench of Hail's blood and body beneath the usual platform scents. From Rattle's face, I knew she didn't have to.
Audio Fiction Podcast 080
"Bearslayer and the Black Knight," by Tom Crosshill, from BCS #92
They clashed in Bear Forest, and the trees sighed around them. Unarmed, dressed only in shadow, they explored each other with sore fingers and hungry eyes. The enchantments of battle cast aside, they were two men of flesh and bone--no taller than any others and no stronger.
From the Archives:
"Thieves of Silence," by Holly Phillips, from BCS #21The song became a chant, slow and rhythmic as a sleeping heart. The dance wove together three women, then four, then one alone with steel in her hand. Zel dreamed on her feet, free of pain, comfortable with the prospect of death. Two of the sisters went away into the darkness beyond the ring of fire. When they returned, they bore a white ghost between them. A white-feathered ghost with yellow eyes that burned brighter than the flames.
- Apr 12, 2012 - 11:20 am
- Voting in the Locus Reader Poll for 2011 is open!
One BCS story is on the poll list, "Walls of Paper, Soft as Skin" by Adam Callaway, from BCS #73. But there are other stories by many BCS authors, including Cat Rambo and Yoon Ha Lee.
You can also cast write-in votes for any piece not listed that you feel is worthy. Here are some of the best-reviewed BCS stories from 2011, and which official category they fit in (short story, novelette, etc).
Beneath Ceaseless Skies is also listed this year for Best Magazine or Fanzine.
Anyone can vote--you don't have to be a subscriber to Locus. And the poll covers a lot more than just short fiction. Check out the poll listings and show your support for your favorite authors and magazines.
But the deadline is Apr. 15--this Sunday. So make sure you cast your vote soon.